Tag Archives: media

The Challenge: CISL had a groundbreaking report on its hands that outlined a practical pathway to building effective insurance schemes for those vulnerable to climate risk. The authors wanted to ensure it had a tangible policy impact – specifically at the Third Financing for Development Conference (FFD3) in Addis Ababa in July 2015.

Our Approach: We supported CISL in writing a policy brief that summarised the report’s key findings, which we recommended releasing at the International Insurance Summit in New York, which industry leaders and key UN decision makers would attend. We released the policy brief to journalists under an embargo that lifted during the report author’s presentation at the IIS.

Outcomes: Media coverage that hit during the week of the policy brief launch was read and commented on by influential leaders in the insurance industry, and an in-depth BBC article was read and praised by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Following media attention, Dr Ana Gonzalez Pelaez, co-author of report, was invited onto a high level panel at the FFD3 conference, to present her findings and recommendations. The full report went live in conjunction with her panel session and to date the report has been covered by The Guardian, Reuters, Inter Press Service, SciDev and Devex, in addition to the BBC.

The Challenge: For every $1 invested in agricultural research, it is estimated that $9 worth of food in is produced in the developing countries where it is needed most. CGIAR Consortium is the largest publicly funded agricultural research partnership in the world, and its 15 centres manage over $1 billion of investment. It has been our task to communicate the mission and impact of CGIAR to the global media and important donors throughout the year, as well as at specific events such as Climate Week 2014.

Our Approach: We have been working with CGIAR to develop a number of products to demonstrate the global impact of their research work. This has involved creating an animated corporate video, an visual organogram explaining their network of research centres around the world, and positioning their CEO as a media spokesperson.

Outcomes: We have placed CGIAR’s work in a range of top tier media outlets such as the Guardian, BBC, National Geographic, Al Jazeera and the Financial Times. Our promotion of CGIAR Development Dialogues, the first event to showcase CGIAR’s solutions for solving hunger and poverty in New York during Climate Week in 2014 was attended by the New York Times and National Geographic.

The Challenge: Translating and disseminating world-class policy research is vital if it is to be understood and actionable by more general audiences. IFPRI’s aim is to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

Our Approach: Marchmont has worked with IFPRI on a variety of assignments including running the press office at their 2014 global “resilience” conference in Ethiopia and helping them launch their report “Food Security in a World of Natural Resource Scarcity” by creating an animated video and infographic alongside media outreach. We have also run various workshops for them including a “Communications 101” workshop and most recently a “Writing for the web” workshop for their in-house communications team in Washington DC.

The Challenge: As the world faces more complex and interconnected challenges, the global research agenda must become ‘fit for purpose’ to respond quickly and comprehensively.

Our Approach: Marchmont helped Future Earth to launch a series of its research reports including its “Global Carbon Budget” report and its “Strategic Research Agenda”, which outlines the need for a step-change in global research for sustainable development. We helped shape the reports’ scientific language and concepts into more media-facing messages and developed a rang of visuals to support online promotion. When pitching the media, we connected these agenda items to existing news events, such as the Ebola crisis and the UN climate talks.

The Challenge: The Montpellier Panel seeks to influence European donors on effective ways to support poverty reduction in Africa through investment in sustainable agriculture. Its bi-annual reports provide evidence and analysis of key topics such as soil management, climate change and innovation. To reach beyond the scientific community, and demonstrate the value of investing in agriculture for wider development strategies.

Our Approach: We recommended partnering with key stakeholder the International Fund for Agricultural Development to host a launch event at the United Nations in Rome on World Soil Day. The report was released to journalists under embargo, and the expert authors were pitched as key commentators on the topic of Africa’s declining soil health, which we positioned an essential issue to be addressed during the International Year of Soils 2015.